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Think about a picture and what comes to mind is a flat image of something with very little depth. The technology to make actual 3D images has been around a while, but it's not mainstream and isn't seen often. Researchers at Stanford have created a new camera chip that can see in 3D that could lead to better images, especially at higher ISO settings where grain is a big issue. Anyone who shoots with a digital camera that offers adjustable ISO settings has seen the noticeable grain that shows up in images. The quality of the camera will affect how high the ISO setting can go before grainy images are a significant issue. The new Stanford chip has a three megapixels rating and rather than using one single large sensor, the prototype chip breaks the image up into many small and overlapping 16 x 16 pixel patches known as subarrays.
Dollar - Doomed At 1.45?
The worst of the lot included housing starts which dropped more than 10% and jobless claims which swelled to 337K against 312K expected. The news pushed the Fed Funds futures to a 75% chance of a rate cut in October dragging the dollar to new lows. To add insult to injury the TICs data proved shockingly weak, printing at -$69 Billion versus $60 Billion projected. Many analysts noted that the vast majority of the outflow was in equities during the massive liquidation in August. With equity markets having recaptured and exceeded their record highs, the expectation for next month is that many of these negative capital flows will reverse. Although the prospect of an October rate hike is quite real, as we noted in our brief on Friday, "Chairman Bernanke must be aware that further monetary easing so soon after the 50bp cut in September, would immediately spur speculation of yet more cuts before the year end and could easily push the EURUSD to the 1.4500 figure within a matter of weeks, destabilizing an already woefully weak dollar." Next week the US calendar is relatively uneventful with yet more housing data and durable goods on the docket.
Direct-vent fireplaces draw air and exhaust fumes outdoors
Q: I plan to install a gas fireplace myself for additional heat in a large family room. I want an efficient one, but one that also has realistic flames. Is a direct-vent design my best option?
Jeff W.
A: New gas fireplaces are very efficient, probably more so than your existing furnace, and they produce substantial heat. Most models should easily produce enough supplemental heat to keep even a large family room comfortable and warm. The heat outputs are only slightly different when set up for propane instead of natural gas.
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48 dead as storms rip South, Beshear declares emergency
LAFAYETTE, Tenn. — Daybreak revealed a battered landscape across the South on Wednesday, as crews searching communities hit by a violent line of tornadoes fought through downed power lines, crumpled mobile homes and snapped trees to find victims. At least 48 people were dead.The storms swept across Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas as Super Tuesday primaries were ending, ripping the roof from a shopping mall, blowing apart warehouses and crumpling a campus' dormitory buildings as students huddled inside.Seavia Dixon, whose Atkins, Ark. was shattered, stood Wednesday morning in her yard, holding muddy baby pictures of her son, who is now a 20-year-old soldier in Iraq. Only a concrete slab was left from the home.The family's brand new white pickup truck was upside-down, about 150 yards from where it was parked before the storm.
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